BUG: SQL Setup Fails If Non-NIC Hardware Profile Is Used

• Microsoft SQL Server, version 6.5

SYMPTOMS

The SQL Server 6.5 Setup fails in Windows NT 4.0 if a hardware profile is used, which disables the network interface card (NIC). For example, in the automatic Dial-up Networking portion of Setup, the following error message appears:

   Cannot reach <servername>, do you want to dial a remote network

   The SQL Server installation could not be successfully completed.
   Setup could not connect to the SQL Server.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, do one of the following:

• Boot to Windows NT with a NIC-enabled hardware profile. You can set up a NIC even though the network cable has been disconnected.
• Dial into your company network using Dial-up Networking and log on to a Windows NT Server. This enables the network named pipes, which allows SQL Server to set up successfully.
• Install the MS Loopback Adapter driver and restart Windows NT. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

        ARTICLE-ID: Q106208
        TITLE     : How To Demonstrate Windows NT Network Features w/o a
                    Network
  
  

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft SQL Server version 6.5. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

“Hardware Profiles” is a new feature in Windows NT 4.0. To access hardware profiles, start Control Panel System and choose the Hardware Profiles tab. You can create a hardware profile by clicking Copy. You can inspect the NIC status of a particular profile by clicking Properties. Then, choose the Network tab.

A NIC-disabled hardware profile is a common configuration for portable and laptop computers. SQL Server Setup attempts to connect the network using a network named pipe rather than a local named pipe. A network named pipe includes the computer name and requires networking software to be function on the computer. A local named pipe does not include the computer name and does not require networking software to function on the computer. A local named pipe is often expressed as a blank, empty, NULL server name, or as a dot (.). Network named pipes do not work with a non-NIC hardware profile. You can confirm this by running the SQL Server diagnostic program called Makepipe at the MS-DOS Command Prompt (CMD.EXE). Another command you can use is: Readpipe /<server name>

The Readpipe session is unable to connect; however, the “Readpipe /S” (without quotation marks) command works.